Cutter assembly for sheet material

ABSTRACT

The cutter assembly includes a hollow guide track having a slot on an upper side thereof in which a cutting element operates. The cutting element has a handle, a tongue on the handle projecting through the slot, and an enlargement operating within the track of a larger lateral dimension than the slot to lock the cutting element slidably on the track. The cutting element has a blade on each leading edge, such blade being offset to one side whereby to ride along one side edge of the slot and accomplish a shearing engagement against such edge. The invention has a pair of end arms for mounting it on a paper roll holder.

0 11111111661 Semen Patent 1 1 13 llllrnnnen [4 1 Jan, 18, 1972 [54]QULTER ASSEMBLY FOR SHEET 3,146,661 9/1964 Young ..83/614 x MAYER,3,199,394 8/1965 Castelli ..83/578 3,277,760 10/1966 Keene et al....83/614 X Inventor: Terence Kramer, 1226 SE 35th 3,301,117 1/1967Spaulding ..83/614 x Avenue, Portland, s 97214 1,190,444 7/1916 Mishler..225/67 [22] Flled' on. 1969 Primary Examiner-James M. Meister [21]App1.No.: 863,219 Attorney-Eugene M. Eckelman [52] 11.8. 1131.....83/578, 83/614, 83/649 [57] ABSTRACT [51] 1111. C1 ..B26d 7/00 Thcutter em ly in l a hollow guide track having a [58] 1 16111 616661-611..83/578,582,614, 649, 650; slot on an pp side thereof in which acutting elemt 225/ 7 3 9 operates. The cutting element has a handle, atongue on the handle projecting through the slot, and an enlargement 5 1n m operating within the track of a larger lateral dimension than theslot to lock the cutting element slidably on the track. The UNITEDSTATES PATENTS cutting element has a blade on each leading edge, suchblade being offset to one side whereby to ride along one side edge ofG111anders et a1 ..83/614 the Slot and accomplish a shearing engagementagainst Such Q "225/67 edge. The invention has a pair of end arms formounting it on 21 1,500,019 7/1924 W1esner.. ....83/614 X paper to h]der1,826,135 10/1931 Johnson ..83/614 2,620,993 12/1952 Jeffrey, Jr...83/614 X 1 Claims, 5 Drawing Flgum PATENImumm 316351113 FIG. 3

TERENCE R. KRAMER g 1 NTOR. 42 B 3 ll CUTTER ASSEMBLY FOR SHEET MATERIALBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in cutters for sheet material.

Many types of paper or sheet material are supplied in rolls adapted tobe removably supported on a holder. In most instances, these holdershave tear bars by means of which a selected length of material may betorn off. However, it is difficult to tear an even edge on such tearbars particularly when the roll reaches a smaller diameter and does nothave sufficient bulk left to provide a good anchor for tearing off theone end of the paper. In addition, tearing such paper on the bar causesthe torn edge to be frayed which in some cases is undesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention and forminga primary objective thereof, the invention provides a cutter having anovel structural arrangement providing for the improved cutting of sheetmaterial.

More particularly the invention provides a cutter assembly having ahollow guide track in which a cutting element operates having blademeans capable of efficiently cutting the paper upon movement of thecutting element along the guide track; to provide a cutter assemblywherein the cutting element has its blade means offset to one sidethereof for engaging a defining edge of a slot in the guide track foraccomplishing a shearing action by the blade; and to provide novelsupport means for the guide track arranged to detachably connect theguide track to an existing roll holder.

The invention will be better understood and additional objects andadvantages will become apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a' preferredform of the device.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of the present cutter assembly asmounted on a roll holder;

FIG. 2 is a foreshortened plan view of the cutter assembly, taken on theline 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 33ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4! is an exploded view of a cutting element embodied in theinvention; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

Referring in particular to the drawings, the numeral designatesgenerally a common type of holder for supporting a roll of paper 12.Such holder may be supported singly on a stand or a number of suchholders may be mounted on a rack in order that multiple rolls 12 ofpaper can be conveniently accessible. In the usual case, the holders 10have a tear bar 14 with a front edge 16 against which an end of thepaper from the roll is physically ripped off. The tear bar 14 issupported on a pair of end arms 18 pivotally connected at 20 to theholder 10 and biased downwardly by tension springs 22 connected betweenthe holder 10 and the arms 18. The outer ends of the arms 18 haveapertures 24 and the bar 14 has tongues 26 arranged to project throughthe apertures, the said apertures being enlarged relative to the tonguesto permit the bar 14 to rotatably adjust on the roll as the latter isreduced in diameter.

It is to be understood that the present cutter assembly may be used withother types of holders with a slight alteration of its structure.Basically, the cutter comprises a guide track 30 for a cutting element32. The guide track 30 comprises a elongated, hollow structure having anupwardly opening slot 34 leading from end to end thereof. The hollowguide track 30 is open at its ends. Such track is supported on theholder 10 by a pair of arms 36 having a hook 38 at one end for engagingaperture 24 in the arms 18. The opposite end of the arms 36 is straightand extends through an aperture 40, FIG. 5, in the guide track 30. Suchlatter end of the arms 36 is threaded for removably receiving a nut 42.It is thus apparent that upon removal of the nuts 42 the track 30 may bedetached from the arms. Arms 36 may have one or more offset portions 44,FIG. 2, as necessary to support the track 30 on a holder It). The track30 is of greater length than the width of the roll 12, and the offset 44disposes the threaded ends of the arms in an outwardly disposed positionrelative to the ends of the roll for engaging the track near the ends ofthe latter. Such arrangement allows the cutting element 32 to bepositioned beyond the side edges of the paper, as will be more apparenthereinafter.

In a preferred construction, the ends of the arms 36, and moreparticularly the body portions thereof on opposite sides of the offset44, are selectively angled such that they cause a frictional bindingengagement with the apertures in which they are connected. For example,the threaded ends of the arms 36 extend slightly angularly with relationto the aligned axis of the apertures 40 so that in the normal dependingposition of the guide track 30 the body portion of the arms 36 at theapertures 40 will frictionally bind in such apertures. Similarly, thehooks 38 at the opposite ends of the arms 36 are angled so that in thedepending position of the guide track 30 V such hooks have a bindingengagement with the arms 18. Such binding engagement at both ends of thearms serves to anchor the guide track against loose mounting and yet byexerting a manual force the hook ends 38 can be dislodged from theapertures 24 when it is desired to remove the cutter assembly.Similarly, the track 30 can be manually forced off the ends of the arms36 after first removing the nuts 42.

The cutting element 32 comprises a handle portion 46 which in apreferred construction is made up of two parts 46a and 46b, best seen inFIG. 4. These two handle parts are adapted to be secured together byadhesive or the like in their assembly and each has side notches 48 inorder that an opera tor can grasp the handle for manipulation of thecutter.

Depending from the handle portion 46a and having one side surfacecoextensive with the inwardly disposed surface of such handle portion isa tongue 50 terminating at its lower end in an enlargement 52. Inassembled relation of the cutter assembly the tongue 50 projects throughthe slot 34 in the guide track and the enlargement 52 is contained inthe hollow track. Such enlargement is wider than the slot and thusserves to slidably connect the cutter to the guide track. As statedabove, the ends of the guide track 30 are open, and upon removal of theguide track from the end arms 36 the cutters are removable out the endsof the guide track.

The tongue 50, although necessarily being quite thin, has a thickenedreinforcing central portion 53, FIG. 5. Such thickened portionpreferably is rounded so that it will not catch on edges of the paperbeing cut.

Handle portion 46a is provided with a pair of notches or recesses 58 onits inwardly disposed surface on opposite sides of the tongue 50 forreceiving cutter blades 60. In a preferred arrangement, the upper edge62 of the: notches is angled upwardly toward the outer ends of thehandle portion and the end edges 64 are parallel, the edges 64 which areinwardly disposed being coextensive with the respective side edges 54 ofthe tongue. The blades 60 have the shape of a parallelogram. An upperangled edge 66 thereof fits along the angled edge 62 of the notches anda bottom angled cutting edge 68 extends from the bottom outer edge ofnotch 58 to approximately the juncture of the enlargement 52 with thetongue 50, the inwardly disposed upright edges 70 of the blades abuttingagainst respective end edges 54 of tongue 50. The tongue 50 is quitethin at its edges 54, and since the trailing edges 70 of the blades abutagainst such edges, cut paper edges cannot hang up when the cut is beingmade.

Tongue 50 is of a length such that the enlargement rides on the bottomof track 30, FIG. 3, and furthermore such that the handle portion 46 isspaced above the track. The blades 60 provide cutting edges entirelythrough the space between the guide track 30 and the bottom of handle 46of the cutting element to insure that a good cut will be made. Since thehandle portion 46 is out of engagement with track 30, the paper can notget pinched between the handle portion and the guide track.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the handle portion 46a is of greater thicknessthan handle portion 46b, and such thickness relationship places thecutting blades 60 in an offset position to one side of the cutter sothat the cutting blades ride along one defining edge of the slot 34.Such association of the cutting blades with the one defining edge of theslot provides a shearing action cutting the material. Cutting blades 60are positively held in the notches 58 by pins 72 engageable in holes 74in the blades. The handle halves 46a and 46b may be bolted togetherinstead of being secured together adhesively for access to the blades 60for sharpening. However, the adhesive connection is preferred whereinthe blades are permanently attached. In this latter case, a new cuttingelement may be substituted for the old one when the blades become dullor too the edges of the blades may be filed while in place.

The cutter assembly is installed on the usual paper holder as explainedabove by engaging the hooks 38 through the openings 24 in the arms 18,or if desired if may be attached to other types of holders simply byminor alteration of the connecting end of arms 36. The guide track 30hangs by gravity either in surface engagement with the roll 12 orsupported away from the roll by engagement of the arms 36 with theholder 10. In a cutting operation, the cutting element 32 is first movedto one end of the guide track and then the length of paper to be cut ispulled from the roll and laid on the top of the guide track. Since theguide track is longer than the roll is wide the cutting element prior topulling the piece to be cut from the roll can be moved to one end in anout of the way position. Thereupon, the cutting element is merely movedmanually across the guide track to shear the paper, the cutting edge ofblade 60 which is being used moving along the one defining edge of slot34 in shearing engagement to cut the paper smoothly and evenly. Afterfinishing a cut, the cutting element is left at the side of completionof the cut and then moved back in making the next cut.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A holder and cutter assembly for a roll of sheet material comprising:I

a. laterally spaced holding means on said holder providing end pivotalsupport for a roll of paper,

b. a pair of end arms attached at one of their ends on said holdingmeans,

c. a laterally extending guide track supported on the other ends of saidarms,

d. said arms being pivotally attached to said holding means at theirsaid one end whereby said guide track is arranged to lie by gravity onthe roll of paper with an end of material to be cut from the roll beingadapted to lie on the top of said guide track,

e. said guide track having a slot on its upper side,

f. a cutting element slidably mounted in said guide track,

g. said track being of a length sufficient to project laterally beyondeach end of the roll and to support said cutter element in end positionsbeyond each end of the roll,

. said cutting element including a handle portion formed in two partsarranged to be clamped together,

. means depending from said handle portion arranged to project throughsaid slot and guide said cutting element in said guide track,

j. and cutter blade means in said cutting element confined between saidtwo handle parts in clamped position,

. one of said handle parts being of thicker dimension than the otherwhereby said cutter blade means is offset to engage against onelongitudinal side edge of said slot to accomplish a shearing cut of thematerial,

. said cutter blade means having cutting edges disposed in oppositerelation whereby said cutting element is arranged to sever paper in bothdirections of travel in said guide track.

1. A holder and cutter assembly for a roll of sheet material comprising: a. laterally spaced holding means on said holder providing end pivotal support for a roll of paper, b. a pair of end arms attached at one of their ends on said holding means, c. a laterally extending guide track supported on the other ends of said arms, d. said arms being pivotally attached to said holding means at their said one end whereby said guide track is arranged to lie by gravity on the roll of paper with an end of material to be cut from the roll being adapted to lie on the top of said guide track, e. said guide track having a slot on its upper side, f. a cutting element slidably mounted in said guide track, g. said track being of a length sufficient to project laterally beyond each end of the roll and to support said cutter element in end positions beyond each end of the roll, h. said cutting element including a handle portion formed in two parts arranged to be clamped together, i. means depending from said handle portion arranged to project through said slot and guide said cutting element in said guide track, j. and cutter blade means in said cutting element confined between said two handle parts in clamped position, k. one of said handle parts being of thicker dimension than the other whereby said cutter blade means is offset to engage against one longitudinal side edge of said slot to accomplish a shearing cut of the material,
 1. said cutter blade means having cutting edges disposed in opposite relation whereby said cutting element is arranged to sever paper in both directions of travel in said guide track. 